Mentorship works! Fast track your boat ownership goals

Recently I’ve been working with a new mentorship client. It’s been an extremely rewarding experience for me, and I hope for the client as well. I started this concept of a cruising boat mentor to specifically provide guidance to fast track people’s goals.

Not everyone who buys a new boat is a gifted mechanic or expert in every aspect of boat ownership. In my experience, very few are. Of course every individual brings his or her blend of life experiences to boat ownership.

One of my previous coworkers is an extremely talented electric engineer, and he used these skills to upgrade boats through years of ownership and now runs a premier consulting business in this area. Still, he worked diligently for years to become an expert in the specific area of marine electric and electronics.

My mentorship program is designed to fast-track student learning by having a skilled and experienced teacher alongside as the client is doing the work themself. This is something I wish I had when I first moved up to a larger cruising boat.

One of the first tasks I wanted to tackle was changing the timing belt and fresh-water pump on our Volvo Penta MD22-P B diesel engine. I hired a local diesel mechanic in Seattle and we agreed that it would be okay if I was there during the job.

As I came to learn in that instance (and other instances) mechanics are not necessarily fond of owners “hanging around” while they do the work. In some cases, it’s because they’re learning as they go too! I realized during the timing belt project, this was the first time this tech was doing this type of job, and he was just figuring it out as he went, he just had better tools and resources than I did. The company’s long time diesel tech had retired but he was available to this tech by phone.

The project I worked on this month was with a client who had a survey on a new boat purchase that indicated he needed to install a flame guard on the diesel primary filter. For an experienced diesel mechanic, long time cruising boat owner, or someone that’s been working on engines their whole life this wouldn’t be a big deal. But if that’s not your core skill set, this type of project can be daunting and it’s tempting to just hire someone to do the work.

If long-term cruising is your goal, then so is self-sufficiency. The mechanic doesn’t want you hanging around, and if they do, prepare for the costs to double or triple as you slow them down.

With my mentorship program I offer a number of in-person hours every month to work on these projects. In this case, the client received a complete education on the low pressure side of the fuel system, from how the plumbing is run, how the lift pump works, how to disassemble these systems and the challenges involved with it, the challenges of finding parts for old systems and mixing and matching new and old parts, when to throw a system away and buy new and when to stick with what you have. We went through all the nitty gritty details of filter replacement, bleeding the engine, dealing with hose clamps, and he now has all the tools, skills, and experience to tackle almost any part of the low pressure fuel system.

We accomplished in a few short hours what would have otherwise been ignored, outsourced to someone else, or struggled with. This program works because the client does the work, they are hands on, they just have someone there to assist. I think it’s a great program, if I do say so myself, and I’m hoping to work with others who want to fast-track their learning whether it’s the mechanical systems or the more fun parts of sailing the boat.